Chapter Fifteen

 

I woke to the smell of the ocean and the sweet heat of the sun on my skin. Blinking, I opened my eyes and saw fluffy white clouds and a perfect blue sky. Whatever I was reclining on swayed softly, the motion a comfort.

“Are you feeling better, cara?” a deep voice asked.

I turned slightly and tried to focus on Marcus. “Where am I?” Even as I asked the question, I realized the answer. I was in one of the most recognizable cities on the planet. The canals kind of gave it away. “How did I get to Venice?”

The last thing I remembered was being with Dev in Hugo Wells’s limousine.

The Italian chuckled and motioned to the gondolier behind us. He lifted his pole and suddenly we were moving. I touched my clothes, which had strangely morphed from a Marc Jacobs skirt and blouse to a sumptuous silk gown like something out of a historical film. It was a rich emerald green. Dev often selected this color when he picked a dress for me. Marcus was in rich-looking silk and velvet. I touched my waist and felt the hard bones that lined the corset. It made my waist very small and shoved my boobs up. I glanced around and noted that Marcus and I were not the only ones dressed in historical garb. All around us people walked and worked on the cobblestone streets. Vendors squawked their offerings. Mothers tugged children behind them as they did their shopping. Men spoke to each other as they trudged along.

Marcus lounged negligently against the cushions of the flat-bottomed boat, his sensual lips curling into a lopsided smile. “You, gorgeous girl, are obviously having a delicious dream.”

I was having a stunningly vivid dream. It was like dreaming in HD. I was hyper aware of everything. The gondola skimmed the surface of the lagoon gracefully, swaying as we passed other boats. The heavy velvet of the cushions was a welcome softness against my skin as I let myself rest back against it.

“You know, you can do whatever you like in your dreams,” Marcus said with a gleam in his dark eyes. “A dream is the perfect place to live out a fantasy.”

“I suppose so.” I murmured, though my brain was working overtime. If this was my dream, why was I in sixteenth century Italy? I usually ended up on a beach with a fruity drink in my hands and someone rubbing my feet.

Even through my heavy skirts, I felt Marcus place his hand on my knee. His voice was seductive and smooth. “Perhaps there is a man you have always wanted but have been afraid to try. In a dream, you can do what you wish. You can take that man you’ve wanted from the first time you laid eyes on him and do as you wish without fear of your husband finding out. It isn’t cheating in a dream, cara. It’s merely wish fulfillment.” His hand squeezed my knee as he turned toward me. His other hand gently tilted my head up as his thumb brushed across my lips. “Haven’t we waited long enough?”

Uh-huh, I thought. There might be some wish fulfillment going on, but it wasn’t my wish that was going to get fulfilled if that horny Italian had his way. Marcus leaned in but just as his lips were about to touch mine, I shoved a hand between us and pushed his “trying to get me to cheat” lips back.

“So this is one of your powers?”

Marcus’s nearly black eyes narrowed, but he laughed anyway. “You can’t blame a vampire for trying, cara. Here we are in the most romantic city on earth and the day is beautiful. Can you think of a more pleasant way to spend the afternoon? I can taste you here and not risk the addiction. After you’ve fed me, I would be more than happy to lift your skirts and allow you to ride me for as long as it takes, il mio tesoro. You haven’t lived until you’ve made love in a gondola on the Grand Canal.”

I rolled my eyes. He never gave up. “I’ll be sure to bring that up when Danny, Dev, and I discuss our next vacation. Now, want to explain why I’m here?”

Marcus sighed. “I thought it was better than you having to deal with Devinshea and that wolf of yours pulling the bullet out of your shoulder. You passed out in the limo. In reality, you’re on a table in Hugo’s kitchens with Devinshea carving up your shoulder. I’m sorry, but we felt it best to stay away from hospitals.”

Grimacing, I took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll go along with that. So this is your version of anesthesia?”

“It’s taking you away from the pain,” the vampire allowed.

“Is this the same as the stuff Chad can do?” Chad was good with illusions.

“Not at all,” he explained. “This is not an illusion in the strict sense of the word. I joined with you on a mental level. Chad can make people see things that aren’t there. I’ve merely drawn you into my memory.”

“Vulcan mind meld. Nice,” I said with a grin.

Marcus laughed. “You and Daniel. You’re incorrigible—what is the word now?—geeks.” He leaned his head back and seemed to enjoy the sun. “This is my favorite place in the world. I thought I would share it with you.”

“And the people in costumes?”

“They aren’t costumes, Zoey,” he explained. “This is what we wore in 1593. You look lovely in a corset, by the way. The people on the street are all looking at you and wondering if a new courtesan has come to Venice. They’re thinking that Don Vorenus has always found the most beautiful of courtesans to keep him company.”

I looked up and sure enough, people were staring and talking behind their hands. “You have a vivid imagination, Marcus.”

“I need no imagination to come to this place.” The vampire smiled as he took in the bridges and streets and houses that made up his home city. “I merely need to close my eyes and the memory is ingrained on my brain. This city has been my great love. I was born in Rome, but I am a son of Venice. I helped to build her. I watched her stand up to tyranny and fight off invaders. I saw the plague take a third of our citizens in a three-year period and still she rose again. This is my heart and my home, Zoey.”

“It’s beautiful, Marcus.” I was touched by his passion for his home. “How did you manage to live here for so long without being detected?”

“Venetians are incredibly practical and tolerant. For a long time, the ruling class knew exactly what I was. I caused no trouble and actually helped make them money. I’ve always been good at knowing how to make money. At one point in time, the Inquisition came for me and the people of Venice hid me and my companion at the time. For months we hid, being moved from house to house and treated like honored guests in each home.”

“You must have been good to those people,” I commented as I enjoyed the sights. It was a marvel to think the city was built before modern technology.

“I was good to them and they were good to me. There are still many people in Venice who know exactly what I am and they would never betray me. Look up ahead, cara.”

We were turning down a narrow canal and suddenly we were in shadows. Marcus pointed to an ancient house. It was marked with a small engraved plate.

“This was the home of Marco Polo,” Marcus said. “He was a good friend of mine.”

Marcus was the ultimate name dropper. He enjoyed talking about the interesting people he’d met over his very long life. “He was the explorer, right?”

I could have mentioned he was also the inventor of the great swimming pool game, but Marcus would have given me that look he always gave me when I said something stupid.

“Oh, yes, it’s been my privilege to meet many important people over the years. It’s another of my talents.”

“How is meeting people a talent?”

“My talent isn’t in meeting them,” Marcus explained. “It’s in knowing who will be important and who will not. You see, most vampires’ skills lay in their strength…”

“You’re talking about warriors,” I interrupted, wanting to understand more about the different classes. I sure as hell wouldn’t be calling up Marini to fill me in. “Like Daniel.”

Marcus laughed at the thought. “Daniel is a warrior and so much more, cara. There is only one word for Daniel and that is king. Daniel takes all the good traits of each class and blends them to make a vampire of immense strength. Louis is a warrior. Most of the members of the Council are warriors. They are the most prevalent of the classes.”

“You’re an academic, right?”

“Yes, I am. It is the category they use for vampires whose talents are almost entirely mental. I’m stronger than a human, but I could never battle Daniel or Louis. My talents lie in persuasion and the ability to draw another person into my mind. I can usually tell when a person is lying to me, and I always know what a human is feeling. It makes it incredibly easy to find a meal and go undetected. I know who’s attracted to me and I can use that.”

I could see how that would be very helpful to a vampire. He could have his dinner and leave the victim alive after persuading the person nothing had happened. “So how do you know who’ll be important and who won’t?”

Marcus thought about this for a moment, obviously trying to find the best way to make me understand. “I see patterns. Some people would call it seeing the future, but it’s nothing so interesting. I see the needs of the world and somehow I manage to find the person who can fill those needs.”

“Like Daniel?”

The vampire’s smile was rueful. “I knew Daniel was important the moment I laid eyes on him. It’s why I fought to become his mentor. I knew he would need me if he was to become what the supernatural world needed. I’ve found that when a true need arises, somehow, some way, the right tools show up.”

I turned to my host. It was long past time to get some answers. If he wanted to use Daniel, I needed to know what happened the last time he had met a king. “If Daniel is supposed to stop the threat Marini poses, then what was the last king supposed to do?”

The gondola glided gracefully across the water as Marcus turned to me. “What you have to understand, Zoey, is that Louis has not always been as he is today. I’ve counted him as my friend for almost two thousand years. When I rose, it was Louis who turned me. He gave me my first blood. He became my master.”

“Then I’m sorry for you, Marcus. He told me he hates the fact that he cannot treat Daniel as a master should,” I said bitterly.

Marcus shook his head. “But, Zoey, he was a kind master. His own master had been terrible to him, and he vowed to never treat another vampire in such a manner. This is what I’m trying to explain to you. Time weighs on him. Immortality changes you. You see so much, watch everything change so quickly, that it all seems temporary. If everything around you becomes temporary then nothing is meaningful. It happens to many vampires. It has happened to Louis. He believes he’s the only thing on the planet worthy of ruling because he’s the oldest of us. That is why the last king rose.”

I nodded because I understood what he was trying to tell me. “So inevitably the Council becomes corrupt.”

“Yes. It was about a thousand years ago. The Council was made up of ancients, true ancients. These were beings that had walked the earth as humans were evolving. It was the Dark Ages and we were being hunted. The Council made a deal with the demons to build great armies to subjugate the human threat. We still needed human blood to survive, so the plan was to kill the strong and make slaves of the weak. There was no mass media in those days, so it was easy to take over a territory and never have the neighboring villages know what was coming for them.”

“And the last king put a stop to this?” I didn’t quite understand why they needed to execute him. He sounded like he’d done something good.

Marcus shook his head. “He was not Daniel, Zoey. He was a hard man. He was power hungry. When he rose, he killed the Council members without a thought to the fact that the act plunged us into civil war. Without a strong Council to guide us, the vampires sought out their own territories and the bloodshed was…I’ve never seen the like. The demons took advantage and joined the king in trying to force the remaining vampires to do his bidding, which included giving their own companions to the king as tribute.”

“Louis and the old king have a lot in common,” I muttered, thinking about the conversation we’d had about Daniel owing him. Marini believed he deserved whatever companion he wanted because he was the head of the Council.

“More than you know, cara,” Marcus replied enigmatically. “Niles, Elof, and I were relatively young vampires. Niko was older and more on the same level as Louis, but we banded together. We were sick of the war and thought we could do better. Niko talked about the ancient Greeks and their views on government. My own Roman upbringing had me believe that people should have rights. It wasn’t democracy as you know today, but it formed the roots of it. The king was a bit more feudal. Might made right in his eyes. We had to stop him.”

“How did you do it?”

“We did the only thing we could. He was stronger than all of us combined so we relied on being smarter than him.”

“You came up with a plan.” It had to be Marcus.

His eyes were grave as he nodded. “I did.” He was silent for a while and when he began speaking again, I could hear the many years in his voice. “I’m not particularly proud of what I did, but there was no other way. I didn’t have a companion at the time but Louis did. She was a beautiful, strong woman from Brittany. The king had decided to take her. She loved Louis and came to me asking how she could kill the king and save her master because she worried Louis would attempt to defend her. I knew an alchemist. He was an intensely talented man. He could liquefy silver in such a way that it was ingestible.”

“Like colloidal silver?”

“No, Zoey,” Marcus said, his teeth biting out the words. “Colloidal silver doesn’t kill in small doses. Marie had but hours to live when she went to the king and let him feed from her.”

“Oh my god,” I breathed, thinking about the woman’s sacrifice. “She must have loved him.”

“It was a different time and Louis was a different person. In the end, it did not kill the king.” Marcus’s voice turned academic now. “It did, however, weaken him to the point that we were able to get him into a prison.”

A prison for a vampire king consisted of yards of silver chains and a coffin. I had seen Daniel in one. The sight still haunted my nightmares. “Is he still alive?”

The thought that he was still hanging around, desiccated and forever hungry in his prison horrified me.

“In a sense,” the vampire said. “Louis was devastated by the loss of Marie. He wanted to kill me and the alchemist. The other members of our new Council made Louis see reason when it came to me, though it took many years to repair our friendship. The alchemist had another way to repay Louis.”

My blood went cold as I realized what he was talking about. “The Blood Stone.”

“Yes. The alchemist made the Blood Stone from the living body of the vampire king. Of course, when the alchemist was done, the king was no longer alive in any way that we would recognize.”

The ramifications of what the Blood Stone was hit me like a tidal wave. I felt my stomach clench and nausea swept over me. “Oh god, Marcus, what have I done?” I barely heard my own words. I remembered the words Marini had said to me that night. I asked what the Blood Stone was and he told me it was merely what my husband felt every day. Marini had found a way to take the essence of the last king into his body. For a brief time, he was a king with all the strengths of one. “He can fight Daniel.”

Marcus turned my face toward him. “Yes, cara, I fear that he can. It would be better for Louis if he kills Daniel in a duel. It would be legal in a way and there would be nothing we could do. The effect doesn’t last for long, but he merely needs to get Daniel into a position where he loses a properly witnessed duel. After that, if he can, he will likely try to create another Blood Stone from Daniel.”

I was confused. “He’s had Daniel at his mercy before. Why wait until now?”

“Until now Daniel has been exactly what Louis needs,” Marcus explained. “Before Daniel rose, we were dangerously close to another civil war and Louis had lost the Blood Stone. He needed another king to keep everyone in line. He thought by keeping Daniel ignorant and properly training him that he could make Daniel his assassin, his executioner. I believed Daniel was worth more to him alive than dead. Now that he has the Blood Stone, that balance has tipped. He needs to kill Daniel while keeping the Council and the academics on his side. Louis has bigger plans, you see. The Council has become corrupt again. Louis wants to subjugate the supernatural world and once he has them, he’ll go after the humans. He has promised us the world if we follow him.”

“What did he promise you, Marcus?” What did Louis think could tempt Marcus into betraying his own strong beliefs?

Marcus laughed softly and brought my hand to his lips. “My dear, he promised me you. I’m to be your master once I help Louis trap Daniel. I’ve been promised that I will be allowed to take you to Venice and we’ll be left alone for the rest of your natural life. My city and my companion will be left untouched by any war that follows.”

“He is lying, Marcus.” I had to make him believe.

“I know, cara, and even if he wasn’t, I could not betray Daniel.” Marcus sat back, a sad look on his face. “I’ve waited too long for him to rise to throw it all away because I want a woman who can never love me.”

I didn’t want to go into that. It seemed cruel to agree with him. “Why has everyone else been corrupted but you remain true?”

“I believe it’s merely a part of who I am. Academics view the world differently. We study those around us. We’ve watched humanity grow up. We respect and even admire the works of man,” Marcus said. “Niko is also an academic. Daniel has two strong supporters on the Council, but we would be outvoted by the warriors if it came to that. The warriors…in the end they want war. Daniel is different. Daniel has you and, as much as I hate to admit it, he has Devinshea.”

“You obviously care for Daniel,” I said. “Why do you have to be so awful to Dev? He’s sacrificed a lot for this war of yours. If we win, it will be due in large part to him.”

“I know,” Marcus admitted. “Let me tell you another story that might help you understand. It involves the boy…I call him a boy, but god only knows how old he is. It involves the boy you met earlier today. The one called the oracle. He’s the one who sought me out many years ago and requested I get the Blood Stone off the plane. He introduced me to Miria. It was the first of several requests the oracle had of me, but there was one that is meaningful to our discussion. About a hundred years ago, the oracle came to me in Venice. He told me there was a young girl in Ireland who needed protection. I was to ensure that no vampire ever found her. When I made my way to a village in County Galway called Ballymoe, I found the girl and made sure she was protected. I became her family’s anonymous patron. The girl became a woman and married and later her grandson made his way to America.”

My eyes narrowed. “My father was born in Galway.”

“Yes, cara, it was your great grandmother I was supposed to protect. Even as a child she lit up the night. It was very difficult for me to watch her from afar, but I did it because I was promised my heart’s desire should I manage to keep the girl safe.”

“What did the oracle promise you?” It must have been impressive to keep a vampire from a truly brilliant companion. I had to wonder at that particular twist of fate. Had a vampire found my grandmother, she almost surely wouldn’t have had children. I wouldn’t exist without Marcus’s protection.

Marcus turned from me. His eyes watched the houses as we floated by. I wondered if he was going to ignore my question when he spoke again. “I was promised that this woman would give birth to a line that would produce the one woman who I would love so much, when she died I would go with her.”

“Oh, Marcus, I’m so sorry.” Tears pricked my eyes because I could practically feel his pain. It had been a cruel deception on the boy’s part. “I am sorry but…”

“You were meant for Daniel,” he said solidly. “I know that. You love Daniel and Devinshea and I can see how necessary you are. I told you that the day after we met. Without you, Daniel is merely a death machine. With you, he is a true and proper king. The oracle lied because he needed me. He knew if I found the girl on my own, I would have protected her until she became a woman, and then I would have taken her as my companion. I would have taken her before she had a husband, before she could bear children. Your line would have died with her.”

“I can see why he did it, but it still seems cruel. You really want the transference thing? It scares me.”

The condition Marcus was talking about was called sympathetic transference. It occurred when a vampire bonded so strongly with a companion that his own body gave up its strength to keep hers alive. In the end, a companion is not immortal and she took the vampire with her when she died. It didn’t work in sudden situations, only in long-term chronic illnesses. We’d discovered Daniel had the condition while we were in Faery. I’d tried to figure out how to cure it but Daniel had been thrilled.

Apparently immortality isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

Marcus’s brows rose. “How do you know? Of course. Daniel already has it. How did you diagnose his condition?”

It was my turn to admit something. Marcus had been so open with me I felt compelled to be honest. “A couple of months ago, Sarah discovered the condition along with a Fae healer. Daniel was weak. We found out his body was bolstering mine when I was weak.”

“Were you sick, cara?”

“I was pregnant,” I admitted. “I had a miscarriage.”

Marcus turned away. “I’m sorry to hear it. I’m rather surprised Daniel allowed Devinshea to impregnate you.”

“It was an accident but we’re used to the idea now. We’re going to try again after…all of this is over. Daniel wants a family. Dev can give that to him. Dev is more than willing to share his children.”

Marcus thought about it for a moment. “Please forgive me. I’ll attempt to be better about the prince. I was bitter toward him because I believed he could never love you as I could have, but now I see what he can give to the both of you. He is loyal, your Lancelot. He’s loyal to you both.”

“We’re his family, Marcus,” I said, hoping the vampire would make good on his promise.

Marcus laughed at something I couldn’t see. “And he’s getting impatient. Your little surgery is over and he wants his wife back. Know this, Zoey, you are my queen and I will never betray you. I will be your faithful servant to the end.” He kissed my hand and I was suddenly lying in a soft bed with Dev shaking me gently.

“Hey, baby,” I said softly, glorying in the fact that I could move my arm. “Sorry about the passing out thing.”

He leaned over and kissed me. “I’m sorry about the bullet in your arm, my wife. It’s out now. Lee held you down while I had to cut you open. It was horrible. Next time, just allow them to blow my head off, won’t you? It will be easier on me in the end.”

I shook my head and noticed that we weren’t alone in the room. All three wolves were there, and Marcus stood in the background watching me. I sat up and smiled at him. “Thank you, Marcus. That was much more pleasant than Lee having to knock me out with his fist.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Lee grumbled.

“I would,” Zack offered, smiling.

Dev frowned, looking between me and the vampire. “Just how pleasant was this little interlude?”

“I merely took my queen on a tour of my home city,” Marcus said with a deferential bow of his head.

“That better be all you did,” Dev muttered under his breath.

“Is all to your liking, Devinshea?” Marcus asked with no malice in his voice. “I’ve stocked the kitchens with her favorite foods and her clothes have been properly placed in the closets. I hope the bedding is to your specifications.”

Dev watched him warily. “Yes, it seems to be. I appreciate that.”

Marcus nodded and then listened intently. I noticed the wolves perked up, too.

“Daniel is here,” Marcus said with a frown. “I doubt he will be in a good mood.”

I glanced up at Dev, who grimaced. He looked like a man waiting for his own trial. I held his hand and waited to see if Daniel was going to judge us all.